Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-11-12
OCGHT THE CONDEMNED ANARCHISTS
TO HAVE BEEN HiNGED:


TO HAVE BEEN HINGED:
1t is natural that sympathy should have
been felt and manifested for the condemned
anarchists at Chicago. and it was right, SO
far a. II was entertained and shown for the
men and their families. and not for the
crime that had been committed. The line
must be drawn right at this point
and drawn taut. We cannot see.
with indifference, any man Il how
ever bad-suffer the extreme penalty of
the law. Still. when he has imbrued his
hands in the blood of a fellow Dan-taken
his life. made . widow of his wife, taken
a father from his children-we must con-
cede that he has been justly punished. 49,
New. what were the facts as 10 the four
men who were hanged Friday? The wives
of the married men are widows: their ci1l-
dren are fa,herless. but the same is trne of
the brave and noble men who stood firm in
the defense Of the public peace and who
sacrificed their lives in protecting persons
and property.
We cannot go into details concerning the
crime committed by the anarchists. They
have already been given. No one of the
condemned men threw the bomb. Only one
Of acknowledgements it. But they
were all guilty Of the murder of brave and
innocent men. who were doing their duty
in the interest Of the people, standing up
in behalf of law and order. In public
prints. in secret conclaves. they had made
all possible preparation for the commission
OF murder. 1t was their announced pur-
pose to kill and destroy. They had the
bombs prepared, So that they might take
the lives of the police and ii was their un-
doubted purpose to overthrow the regular,
legal authority and to take possession of
the city.
They were. then. no! simply murderers.
Thep were all OF that-they We're all guilty
OF the blood of the slain policemen. but
they were much more. They were con-
spirators against the public peace. They
were not simply guilty of a murder but Of
a massacre. They were also traitors and
rebels. They raised the red standard of
revolt and rapine. not against Mccormick.
the reaper man. but against the legal au-
thorities Of against the state of
Illinois-against the people of the United
States. Had they been successful at the
Haymarket, not only the reaper works. but
building would have gone down. and the
red flag Of the commune would have waved
in triumph over the unfortunate city and
its people. Then there would have been red
in mind too, that the anarchists were in
telligent. well-nformed men and knew
what they were about.
These men represent class of persons
who are outspokeh in their opposition to
law and Order-tO all legally-constituted
authoritty-to to the police, TO the courts. to
legislatures. to congress. to executive au
thoriies. from the lowest TO the highest
to God Almighty himself. and to the people
Of the country. That fatal bomb was not
merely thrown at group of polIcemen-it
was hurled at the very men who have been
expressing their sympathy for the men
who were guilty OF the act of throwing it:
it was aimed at every loyal and orderly
citizen of the United States-at every peace
full home and at every wholesome social
privilege and institution in the land.
Some Of our best men petitioned Gov
ernor Oglesby for Communication Of the
sentence of the condemned men to impris-
onment for life, and the good-hearted but
very level-headed man undoubtedly went
to the very verge Of his duty and privilege
As to the men who demanded uncondi-
tional release or death, he had no option
There is not man in the United States so
idotic as to believe that he could have dis
charged the four men who were hanged on
Friday. Then what could he do? They
refused to go to prison for life and insisted
on being hanged. And they wers hanged
And into their graves went the principles
in behalf of which the fatal bomb was
thrown. Anarchism-nOt anarchy, p0ssi-
bly,, in all its phases, but organized anarchy